vegetables and a storm or a drought hits. You know

you’re not going to like the outcome.”

She thought on that a bit as the other customer in

the store hauled a few bags of potting soil and a shov-

el to the counter. She waited until after he left before

continuing. “But even if that’s the case, why am I so

down about this? I just can’t seem to get myself

pumped up anymore.”

“Well, now we’re getting into deeper waters,” Gar-

dener said. “But I suspect the answer lies in the gar-

dening analogy we were talking about, and maybe in

not being so alone, trying to fight this by yourself.” He

sidled over to the seed section and took a few packets

off the rack. “I’ve got an idea,” he said. “If you’re up

for it, I think I can show you how to put your career

back on track by treating your sales career like you

would your own garden. We can go week to week,

through the planting season all the way to harvesting.

Along the way I can tell you what I’ve learned about

tending a sales garden, so to speak, and how well it

worked out for me. I’ve been fortunate enough to

help some other people with problems similar to

yours since I retired. These folks come in on Satur-

17

The Sales Garden